{"id":"CVE-2023-49797","aliases":["EUVD-2023-0216","GHSA-9w2p-rh8c-v9g5","OESA-2024-1742","PYSEC-2023-292"],"status":"published","title":"Local Privilege Escalation in pyinstaller on Windows","description":"PyInstaller bundles a Python application and all its dependencies into a single package. A PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to. A user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied: 1. The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`. 2. The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker). 3. The user's temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location). Either: A. The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between `shutil.rmtree()`'s builtin symlink check and the deletion itself B: The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links. The vulnerability has been addressed in PR #7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller \u003e= 5.13.1`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-09","score":0.00324,"percentile":0.25684,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-379","CWE-732"],"published":"2023-12-09T00:39:46Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:31:04Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"PyPI","package":"pyinstaller","fixed_in":["5.13.1"],"sources":["ghsa","osv"]},{"ecosystem":"openEuler:24.03-LTS","package":"python-pyinstaller","fixed_in":["5.13.0-2.oe2403"],"sources":["osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"PyPI","package":"pyinstaller","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.13.1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"PyPI","package":"pyinstaller","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.13.1"}]}],"versions":["1.5","1.5.1","2.0","2.1","3.0","3.1","3.1.1","3.2","3.2.1","3.3","3.3.1","3.4","3.5","3.6","4.0","4.1","4.10","4.2","4.3","4.4","4.5","4.5.1","4.6","4.7","4.8","4.9","5.0","5.0.1","5.1","5.10.0","5.10.1","5.11.0","5.12.0","5.13.0","5.2","5.3","5.4","5.4.1","5.5","5.6","5.6.1","5.6.2","5.7.0","5.8.0","5.9.0"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"openEuler:24.03-LTS","package":"python-pyinstaller","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.13.0-2.oe2403"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"PyPI","package":"pyinstaller","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"5.13.1"}]}],"versions":["1.5","1.5.1","2.0","2.1","3.0","3.1","3.1.1","3.2","3.2.1","3.3","3.3.1","3.4","3.5","3.6","4.0","4.1","4.10","4.2","4.3","4.4","4.5","4.5.1","4.6","4.7","4.8","4.9","5.0","5.0.1","5.1","5.10.0","5.10.1","5.11.0","5.12.0","5.13.0","5.2","5.3","5.4","5.4.1","5.5","5.6","5.6.1","5.6.2","5.7.0","5.8.0","5.9.0"]}],"products":[{"vendor":"pyinstaller","product":"pyinstaller"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller/security/advisories/GHSA-9w2p-rh8c-v9g5","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","Vendor Advisory","advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller/pull/7827","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Issue Tracking","Patch","fix","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/0fb18b02c8ad56299d6a2910be0bab8ad601ef24/Lib/shutil.py#L623","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Product","web"]},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ISRWT34FAF23PUOLVZ7RVWBZMWPDR5U7/","tags":["x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2K2XIQLEMZIKUQUOWNDYWTEWYQTKMAN7/","tags":["x_transferred","web"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-49797","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/pyinstaller/PYSEC-2023-292.yaml","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2K2XIQLEMZIKUQUOWNDYWTEWYQTKMAN7","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ISRWT34FAF23PUOLVZ7RVWBZMWPDR5U7","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9w2p-rh8c-v9g5"},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/49xxx/CVE-2023-49797.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller","tags":["package"]},{"url":"https://www.openeuler.org/en/security/safety-bulletin/detail.html?id=openEuler-SA-2024-1742","tags":["advisory"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2023-49797","title":"Local Privilege Escalation in pyinstaller on Windows","description":"PyInstaller bundles a Python application and all its dependencies into a single package. A PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to. A user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied: 1. The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`. 2. The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker). 3. The user's temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location). Either: A. The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between `shutil.rmtree()`'s builtin symlink check and the deletion itself B: The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links. The vulnerability has been addressed in PR #7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller \u003e= 5.13.1`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2023-12-09T00:42:46.182Z","modified":"2025-02-13T17:18:55.9Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-379","CWE-732"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:35:12.998024Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2023-0216","description":"PyInstaller bundles a Python application and all its dependencies into a single package. A PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to. A user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied: 1. The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`. 2. The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker). 3. The user's temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location). Either: A. The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between `shutil.rmtree()`'s builtin symlink check and the deletion itself B: The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links. The vulnerability has been addressed in PR #7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller \u003e= 5.13.1`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2023-12-09T00:42:46Z","modified":"2025-02-13T17:18:55Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-03T00:03:48.029386Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-9w2p-rh8c-v9g5","title":"Local Privilege Escalation in Windows","description":"### Impact\n\nA PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to.\n\nA user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied:\n\n* The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`.\n* The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker).\n* The user's temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location).\n* Either:\n  - The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between [`shutil.rmtree()`'s builtin symlink check](https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/0fb18b02c8ad56299d6a2910be0bab8ad601ef24/Lib/shutil.py#L623) and the deletion itself\n  - The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links\n\n### Patches\n\nThe vulnerability has been addressed in https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller/pull/7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller \u003e= 5.13.1`\n\n### Workarounds\n_Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?_\n\nNo workaround, although the attack complexity becomes much higher if the application is built with Python \u003e= 3.8.0.","status":"published","published":"2023-12-09T00:39:46Z","modified":"2024-11-22T20:21:21Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-379","CWE-732"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:38:22.774145Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2023-49797","description":"PyInstaller bundles a Python application and all its dependencies into a single package. A PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to. A user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied: 1. The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`. 2. The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker). 3. The user's temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location). Either: A. The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between `shutil.rmtree()`'s builtin symlink check and the deletion itself B: The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links. The vulnerability has been addressed in PR #7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller \u003e= 5.13.1`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2023-12-09T01:15:07.333Z","modified":"2026-06-17T06:36:29.11Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-379","CWE-732"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:08:54.010507Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2023-49797","title":"Local Privilege Escalation in pyinstaller on Windows","description":"PyInstaller bundles a Python application and all its dependencies into a single package. A PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to. A user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied: 1. The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`. 2. The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker). 3. The user's temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location). Either: A. The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between `shutil.rmtree()`'s builtin symlink check and the deletion itself B: The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links. The vulnerability has been addressed in PR #7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller \u003e= 5.13.1`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2023-12-09T00:42:46.182Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:31:04.22159828Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-379","CWE-732"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:44:34.72355Z"},{"id":"GHSA-9w2p-rh8c-v9g5","title":"Local Privilege Escalation in Windows","description":"### Impact\n\nA PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to.\n\nA user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied:\n\n* The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`.\n* The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker).\n* The user's temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location).\n* Either:\n  - The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between [`shutil.rmtree()`'s builtin symlink check](https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/0fb18b02c8ad56299d6a2910be0bab8ad601ef24/Lib/shutil.py#L623) and the deletion itself\n  - The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links\n\n### Patches\n\nThe vulnerability has been addressed in https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller/pull/7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller \u003e= 5.13.1`\n\n### Workarounds\n_Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?_\n\nNo workaround, although the attack complexity becomes much higher if the application is built with Python \u003e= 3.8.0.","status":"published","published":"2023-12-09T00:39:46Z","modified":"2024-11-22T20:33:42.273183Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-379","CWE-732"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:44.225359Z"},{"id":"OESA-2024-1742","title":"python-pyinstaller security update","description":"PyInstaller bundles a Python application and all its dependencies into a single package. The user can run the packaged app without installing a Python interpreter or any modules.\r\n\r\nSecurity Fix(es):\r\n\r\nPyInstaller bundles a Python application and all its dependencies into a single package. A PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to. A user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied: 1. The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`. 2. The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker). 3. The user\u0026apos;s temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location). Either: A. The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between `shutil.rmtree()`\u0026apos;s builtin symlink check and the deletion itself B: The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links. The vulnerability has been addressed in PR #7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller \u0026gt;= 5.13.1`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.(CVE-2023-49797)","status":"published","published":"2024-06-21T11:07:12Z","modified":"2026-08-18T01:17:24.677409134Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:52:41.095407Z"},{"id":"PYSEC-2023-292","description":"PyInstaller bundles a Python application and all its dependencies into a single package. A PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to. A user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied: 1. The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`. 2. The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker). 3. The user's temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location). Either: A. The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between `shutil.rmtree()`'s builtin symlink check and the deletion itself B: The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links. The vulnerability has been addressed in PR #7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller \u003e= 5.13.1`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.","status":"published","published":"2023-12-09T01:15:00Z","modified":"2024-11-21T14:56:57.538134Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:52:53.837392Z"}]}}